Tuesday, September 9, 2014
It's All In The Name
There are certain foods and drinks that
will always be associated with specific places. Champagne is one such example.
It is not champagne (or at least cannot be called champagne) unless it comes
from the region in France called… you've got it, Champagne. Melton Mowbray pork
pies are another case in point. Named after the town in Leicestershire, they
can only carry the Melton Mowbray label if they have been made within the
designated zone around Melton, using uncured pork and following the traditional
recipe.
It is the system of geographical indication
(GI) that acts as the guardian of these particular products of specific origin.
Added to the list of foodstuffs that are protected by GI you will find a number
that originate in India. Here we take a look at some of the food items that
have been awarded the highly coveted 'badge of honour'.
Darjeeling Tea
This was the first product in India to be
awarded GI status. Only tea that has been cultivated, grown, produced,
manufactured and processed in tea gardens in the Darjeeling district of West
Bengal can bear the name. It is available in black, green, white and oolong
versions and unlike most other Indian teas uses the small-leaved Camellia
Sinensis variety hailing from China. It was with seeds stolen from China that a
civil surgeon started experimenting with tea plantations in Indian in 1841 - and
the rest is history.
Kangra Tea
Less well-known (and often compared to
Darjeeling) is Kangra Tea, produced in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh
in North-West India. Another example of tea plantations using Chinese or
Chinese-hybrid plants, Kangra Tea was first cultivated here in 1852. Kangra Tea
is gold in colour and has a sweet undertone (unlike the sharper taste of
Darjeeling).
Dharwad Pedha
Head to the state of Karnataka and you find
yourself in the home of dharwad pedha, bite-sized sweet treats that have put
the city of Dharwad on the culinary map. Such is the luxurious taste of these
sweets that it is hard to believe they are made with nothing but milk and
sugar. The exact recipe is a fiercely guarded secret, but the milk is cooked
down and sweetened, and the resulting thickened mixture is then rolled in
powdered sugar.
Hyderabadi Haleem
Haleem is a thick stew made using meat and
lentils. It was originally an Arabic dish but was introduced to Hyderabad
during the rule of the Nizams. By the 19th century, and with the addition of
local spices, the dish had its own unique characteristics and was popular
across the state. The Hyderabadi Haleem has often been compared to the world
famous Hyderabadi biryani, but is one of the traditional dishes served at
weddings and other celebrations. It was the first non-vegetarian dish to be
awarded GI status in India in 2010.
Another place you can find great food is at
one of London's popular Indian brasseries.
Serving wonderful plates of authentically cooked Indian snacks, curries, sweets
and more, the food is hard to beat.
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